Best batters back Bowlan, bullpen in 4-3 beating

The Kansas City Royals put together a seventh inning rally to back a solid night from the bullpen in a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians tonight at Progressive Field.

The Royals threatened immediately against Logan Allen in the first. Maikel Garcia reached on an unusual play — he hit what looked like a routine 6-3 groundout, but Brayan Rocchio double-clutched it and threw it away, allowing Garcia to reach with what was for some inexplicable reason called a single. After Bobby Witt Jr. struck out, Vinnie Pasquantino worked the count before fisting one the other way to give Kansas City two baserunners with one out. Salvador Perez popped out and it looked like the Royals might go empty-handed after Jonathan India quickly went down 0-2. But he managed to fight off some pitches before punching one back up the middle. Daniel Schneemann got a glove on it to keep it on the infield but was unable to prevent Garcia from scoring and giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead.

The Royals gave it away immediately in the bottom of the frame. Steven Kwan led off the inning with a bloop single and soon moved up to second when Jonathan Bowlan spiked a curveball. That would end up a moot point as George Valera followed with a walk, giving the Guardians two baserunners with nobody out. José Ramírez just missed a meatball from Bowlan and flew out. With Kyle Manzardo at the plate, Kwan and Valera attempted a double steal. Perez threw to third and Kwan was initially called safe. But the Royals challenged and the play was quickly overturned as replay showed that Garcia got the tag down well before Kwan reached the bag. That out was a big deal, but Manzardo had the last laugh - he got a down-and-in curveball and absolutely demolished it into the right field bleachers for a homer that gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead.

After a scoreless second for each team, the Royals came back in the third. With one out, Witt whacked a single the other way. He promptly stole second base and shortly thereafter came around to score when Pasquantino ripped one into right field for a knock. Perez then swung at a pitch way in on his hands. He made contact and broke his bat, but got enough of it to put it just barely fair down the left field line. He managed to hustle to second while Pasquantino stopped at third. That brought up India with two runners in scoring position and still just one out. With the infield playing in, he hit a grounder about halfway between the first and second basemen. A fast runner likely would have scored from third, but Pasquantino is not that. The runners stayed put, India was thrown out, and Adam Frazier grounded out to end the inning.

Bowlan was unsurprisingly pulled after two innings, beginning the bullpen game in earnest. First up was Angel Zerpa, who posted a scoreless third before departing the game with two outs and a runner on second in the fourth. Sam Long was summoned and walked the first batter that he faced. He then got ahead of Bo Naylor 0-2. But he was unable to finish him, throwing an absolutely awful breaking ball that Naylor ripped into right field. That scored Ángel Martínez from second, giving Cleveland a 3-2 lead and runners on the corners. Long managed to retire Kwan 6-3 to avoid further damage.

In the fifth, Witt recorded the hardest-hit ball of his career — a 117.5 mph screamer that Brayan Rocchio had no chance of keeping in the infield. He would be erased shortly thereafter when Pasquantino hit into a double play. Luinder Avila entered to pitch for the Royals in the bottom of the inning and worked around a two-out walk to post a scoreless frame. The sixth saw Allen’s night end as Cleveland went to their bullpen. They brought in Matt Festa, who retired the side in order. Avila came back out for the bottom of the sixth and once again allowed a two-out baserunner but otherwise completed the inning without incident.

The Royals rallied in the seventh. With one out, Jac Caglianone worked a walk against Tim Herrin. Tyler Tolbert was brought in to pinch run, while Nick Loftin was summoned to pinch hit for Kyle Isbel. Tolbert easily swiped second to get into scoring position. Loftin then came through, lining a ball into left. Tolbert was well ahead of the play at the plate as Kwan’s throw went up the first base line. Seeing Loftin attempting to take second, Naylor picked the ball and fired in the general direction of second base. The throw was nowhere near the bag and sailed into center, allowing Loftin to move up to third. With the game tied, the go-ahead run on third, just one out, and the top of the lineup coming, Cleveland went to their bullpen, bringing in Hunter Gaddis. Gaddis’s second pitch was a middle-middle slider that Garcia crushed off the wall in right field. Loftin came home to give Kansas City a 4-3 lead. Garcia slid into second base as Kwan delivered another wayward throw from the outfield. Gaddis retired the next two to end the inning, but the Royals had the lead.

With that lead now in tow, Lucas Erceg entered to face the top of Cleveland’s order. After two quick outs, Ramírez doubled down the right field line. He would be stranded there as Erceg got Manzardo to bounce out 4-3. In the eighth, it appeared the Royals got some insurance. Old friend Jakob Junis entered to pitch for Cleveland. Perez led off the inning and battled his former teammate. The ninth pitch of the at-bat was a slider that caught far too much of the plate and Perez crushed it down the left field line for a… foul ball? On replay, the ball appeared to be clearly inside the foul pole, but the call was confirmed on review. I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. Perez grounded out two pitches later. Junis struck out the next two batters to end the inning with the score still 4-3. Erceg came back out for the bottom of the eighth and retired the side in order.

After the Royals went down in order in the ninth, Carlos Estévez entered to lock down the save. He set down Cleveland 1-2-3 to secure a 4-3 victory for Kansas City.

The win improves the Royals to 74-72. They are 3.5 games out of a postseason spot and have absolutely no margin for error at this point. They’ll have a chance to split this four-game set in the series finale tomorrow afternoon in Cleveland.

Jonathan Bowlan: 2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR

Logan Allen: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

Maikel Garcia: 2-4, 2B, R, RBI

Kyle Manzardo: 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB

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